St Mary's Catholic Voluntary Academy

About St Mary's Catholic Voluntary Academy

St Mary's Catholic Voluntary Academy is a small state primary in the High Peak area of Derbyshire, serving 118 pupils aged 4 to 11. Within its local authority, it sits at rank 170 out of 353 primary schools, placing it in the middle of the pack. The top-performing peers in the same area — Redhill Primary School, Wessington Primary School, and Longford CofE Primary School — all achieved a perfect ranking score of 100, which sets a high benchmark. St Mary's itself ranks 21st out of 34 schools specifically within the High Peak locality, putting it in the bottom half of that more immediate group. The school is Roman Catholic in character, led by headteacher Patricia Chapman, and its most recent Ofsted inspection in 2023 confirmed it remains Good, a rating it has held consistently since at least its previous graded inspection in 2013.

Academically, St Mary's KS2 results for 2023/24 show a mixed picture. The proportion of pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths combined was 50%, which is below the Derbyshire local authority average of 59%. In individual subjects, 75% met the expected standard in reading and writing, and 81% did so in maths — the latter being a relative strength. However, no pupils achieved the higher standard in all three subjects, and the percentages reaching higher levels in reading and writing were both 13%. Average scaled scores in reading and maths were both 104, which is in line with the national average of 100 but not notably high. Progress scores are not available for this school, so it's hard to say how much value it adds relative to pupils' starting points, but the combined expected standard figure suggests there is room for improvement compared with local peers.

The school is oversubscribed for 2025/26, with 43 applications for 24 places and 23 first-preference offers made, giving an oversubscription ratio of 1.79. Facilities include an ICT suite, sports hall, music rooms, a sensory room, a chapel, and playing fields, with sports offered in athletics, football, rounders and cricket. Clubs include Eco Club, Art Club and Coding. SEND provision is broad, covering specific learning difficulties like dyslexia, speech and language needs, hearing impairment, physical disability, and autistic spectrum disorder. With a quarter of pupils eligible for free school meals (25.4%), the school serves a relatively disadvantaged community. This is a faith-based, community-focused primary that suits families who value its Catholic ethos and small size, though those prioritising top academic outcomes may want to look at the higher-ranked peers nearby.

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